For two hours each Tuesday evening from February to June in the St. Gabriel Roman Catholic Church rectory in Hazleton, Tony Matz exercises leadership skills of a far different kind from those in his job as an electric repairman leader for PP&L, Inc. in Hazleton.

Matz, a 30-year PP&L, Inc. employee, teaches an American Citizenship class for 30 adult students, all over age 18. They are legal immigrants who have resided in the United States for at least five years. Most of the students are Spanish-speaking, mainly from El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. A few are from Eastern European countries such as Romania.

To say that Matz starts with the basics in his American Citizenship class would be an understatement.

"I would say about 95 percent of the students couldn't speak or write any English when this class started in February," Matz relates. "So, we start out by covering the alphabet, because the citizenship test must be taken in English when that time comes." Matz does explain, however, that students over age 55 are permitted to take the test in their native language.

Because of this English language gap, Matz spends about half of the class time on basic reading and writing and the rest of the time on civics and U.S. history. He is assisted by his wife, Kathleen, and by Camilo Angeles, a building maintenance specialist for PP&L, Inc. in Hazleton. Angeles, who is from Mexico and who passed the citizenship test himself 15 years ago, serves as an interpreter for Matz.

Matz says about half of the students can be expected to pass the citizenship test when taken the first time, and they become U.S. citizens. The rest must retake the test. This is the second citizenship class Matz has taught. "I took a course at the local Penn State University campus to become an adult literacy instructor in December 1997, and my interest just grew from that experience," he says.

According to Matz, the citizenship test consists primarily of multiple choice and true-or-false questions, with a few essay questions. The test covers American history, the three branches of the federal government (executive, legislative and judicial), local government, the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution.

The first tasks to be mastered by students in Matz's classroom are the saluting of the flag and the citing of the pledge of allegiance. "We do these things at the start of each class," he says.

To prepare his students for the citizenship test, Matz teaches basic civics and U.S. history, from the native Americans to the Pilgrims and the colonists, the Civil War, the two world wars and the late 19th and early 20th century waves of immigration to this country. "We study about 100 different questions that could come up in the citizenship test," Matz explains, "but the students don't know which ones will actually appear on the test."

Instruction materials for Matz's class are provided by the federal government through the local congressman's office and by Catholic Charities and Leadership Hazleton. Matz is a graduate of Leadership Hazleton.

"The most gratifying thing about the class to me," said Matz, "is to see how eager the students are and how hard they are willing to work. It seems to me that what many of us take for granted, they are trying to earn."

Martha Herron, PP&L, Inc.'s community development director for the Hazleton area, said that Matz's efforts with the citizenship class exemplify the company's employee volunteer efforts.

"Community involvement is an important part of PP&L, Inc.'s business practices," said Herron. "Through formal programs and individual employees' efforts, we can enhance the vitality of the communities we are privileged to serve."